Tethered Hearts
by Dark ring of hope
Summary: In another world, that is what he had told her, and that was what he intended to bring about. What would their time apart bring them though, when distance seemed to only pull them closer. Post Game One-shorts, rated M because the game is M.
1. Chapter 1: His Promise

When I finished the game, I'm rather sure I flipped every table in existence, and then went into shock for almost a week after that only being able to think that my poor girl had fallen in love with the Dread Wolf.

Anyway, shock is over, now annoyance and waiting time for DLC, which they better have...

While I wait, there are several little shorts I have cooking in the background. This is the first one that done, which is probably one of my favorites.

This story will always been 'complete' as every chapter can stand on its own, but be sure to watch it becuase it will be updated randomly, to about three I think.

Again, sorry for any typos, no Beta...

Enjoy!

**~ D.R.O.H**

* * *

><p><strong>Tethered Hearts <strong>

His Promises

He hadn't been able to go far.

Even in the months since the defeat of Corypheus and his own vanishing act, Solas still wondered the same places he had traveled with the misfit group that had made up the Inquisition. He had thought with time, he would venture further, find new places to explore in the fade, but he couldn't. If he did, his chest would ache, and he couldn't breath. It was like he was tied there, a barrier blocking his way from setting foot on ground _she_ had not traveled.

It was a willing confinement though, and he found himself becoming less and less agitated by the fact of his seemingly rooted feet. He should have known better after all, she had wound herself too tightly into his heart for him to simply leave her.

He couldn't be with her though, not now, not with the world the way it was. Still, he ached for her, his arm physically weighted down by their emptiness. He needed to see her again. It had been months he told himself; surely it was all right to see her face again, if only in memory.

That was why he was here after all, retracing steps taken before, only this time he was alone. The forest was dense there, with large jagged mountainsides and the half eaten runes of his people. The Emerald Graves, a name that suited the place now he supposed, for so many of his people had died here, their memories sewn deep into the land.

He found the spot he wanted an hour or so in, where a slopping ridge side backed a small clearing. In the distance he could hear the sound of water, a small trickling fall filling into a shallow lake.

Solas stopped, raising his staff to weave protective wards to ensure his own safety. Once he was done he lowered it, but stopped to look upon his weapon with admirations. It was wooden, with metal resin wrapped around it and a wooden figurehead near the top. She had carved it, made it – his inquisitor, his love – with the knowledge she had practically begged Blackwell to teach her. He found irony in the detailed wolf head and he had all but bit his own tongue off when she had gifted it to him, already attached to the staff and enchanted with powerful runes.

_"Why a wolf?" He had asked, unable to help himself._

_"Well, you see… I saw you admiring the Fen'Harel statues we found and I thought it suited you." She had answered smiling. _

_"Don't you think this will give me bad luck?" He had mused, causing her to tilt her head._

_"I've told you I think the Dalish have some of our stories wrong Solas, just as you claim. After all, why would there be so many statues of him if the Dread Wolf were truly evil? Why would they have called upon his strength in battle?" She had grinned at his expression of shock. "Maybe he can lend you his strength, just like you lend me yours."_

Solas shook his head free of the memory and settled himself on the ground, staff at his side. Such a kind heart, one willing to see things, know things differently, even when they were written in stone, Solas had hardly been able to stop her questions.

Taking in a deep breath he leaned his back against the tree and tried to relax. He tried to think of the tree as nothing more then that, a tree, but it was hard to when she had always been there, even during his last few journeys to the Fade. Even now, he could almost feel her callused fingers caressing his scalp as he laid upon her outstretch lap. Almost heard her humming an old Dalish tune as he sunk deeper and deeper into sleep and finally let the Fade take him.

When he became lucent again he found himself in the Fade's reflection of the world he had just been in. The colors were slightly off, and the forest seemed brighter, but he knew where he was and what would soon take place.

As if thinking it had called it into action he heard the sound of footsteps – four sets to be precise. He watched as the women he loved led her little group into the small clearing and looked around, her vibrant short red hair off setting the green of the land. She looked around carefully has her small group waited for her direction.

He watched himself sigh and look upon the redhead with a troubled face as the Tevinter Mage smiled easily and Iron Bull rubbed the space between his massive horns.

"Hey Boss? You sure you know where your going?" He asked, causing the redhead to hunch her shoulders and look back at them through shining ice blue eyes. She gave a small sheepish smile to which the massive warrior groaned.

"Sneaks, you have got to be an anomaly among your people." Dorian said with a smile, shaking his head. Solas remembered a time where he had felt a tinge of jealousy at the other mage's nickname towards the Inquisitor, but that had passed quickly when he had learned the man had no interest in women as anything more then friends. "How can a Dalish get lost?" He teased.

Face flushing she had huffed annoyed. "Oh, shut up." She grumbled, pouting as she looked around for a moment before her eyes landed on his memory replica. Solas watched himself crack a small smile.

"It is quiet odd Ausra." He pointed out, causing the young women to look even more annoyed.

"Your not suppose to side with them Solas." She sighed, rubbing her head and looking about before her eyes came to rest on the tall cliff side. "Alright, just stay here, I'll go take a better look." She muttered, dropping her pack and twin dangers before walking over to the bottom of the incline.

The Elven God watched his copy take a step forward, a look of worry flashing over his face. "_Lethallan_…" He had trailed off, as the female elf had ignored his protest, quickly and skillfully climbing up the cliff side. Beside his memory self, Iron Bull chuckled.

"Look at her go, she's quiet the fearless climber she is." He laughed and Dorian smiled in agreement. Solas could only remember too well how fearless Ausra could be. He recalled a time when he had found her sitting on the railing of her balcony, completely at easy as she read a book. He had made a fuss, thinking she would fall. Her balance was unwavering though, it was part of what made her such a good rouge.

"Hey, I bet if we looked up, we could see under that armor she's wearing" Bull pointed out, leaning. His weakness for redheads was a bit annoying to the elven mage. Still, he hadn't even had to defend her as he watched a good sized rock chuck around the size of a fist come hurtling down and hitting the large warrior in between his horns. Bull winced a bit, before laughing. "Ah, come on boss, we know who you belong to, I'm just teasing you!" His rather non-apology only earned him another rock to the head.

Solas had often wondered if the Qunari had simply taken the hit because he knew it wouldn't hurt him or if he really thought it was that funny. Either way his past self had said nothing to the bigger man's words and simply looked slightly smug while Dorian continued to chuckle at his best friend's expense. He had deserve it after all, no one, not even Solas could have ever truly owned her.

"Okay!" Her voice echoed from far up. "We just need to keep going straight, I think I can see the dragon's nest."

"Awesome!" Bull crowed, shouting something in his people's tongue. "Get your butt back down here so we can go and slay it boss!"

"I'm comin'. " She grumbled and Solas watched as his former self waited and then heard a sudden cracking noise followed by a Dalish curse as well as others. "Crap!" He had tensed up at that, and watched the three men become worried as a sudden splash was heard on the other side of the cliff. There was silence for a moment before Ausra's voice came again. "I'm okay! Ag…"

Solas couldn't help but smile as he watch Dorian and Bull crack up in a fit of laughter while his ghost covered his face with his hand, embarrassed for her, though he covering a smile. "I'll go and retrieve her." He had said finally, and headed off, leaving the two incapacitated members behind for the time being.

He followed himself around the cliff side to where the small lake and waterfall were that he had heard before entering the Fade. He found Ausra sitting in the shallow part of the water, up to her waist in it, her hair and leather's soaked through. She gave his ghost a sheepish grin as he shook his head and walked into the knee-deep water.

"Honestly _emma vhenan_, you need to be more careful." He scolded her, often wondering if the woman truly was nearly 29 years old and not a child. All his memory self got was another playful smile and thus he shook his head and reached out to offer his hand.

Solas could only watch as he knew what was to come and Ausra took his hand only to smirk like a cat suddenly and tug, her foot tripping the older elf up. With a loud splash he watched himself fall into the water, only saving his head from being soaked thanks to out stretched hands. By then the woman was laughing, her newly free hand whipping her hair back as it dripped water down her face.

If it had been anyone else, Solas might have been upset with them, but he found himself smiling as he watched the memory, for it was that playful, carefree spirit of hers that had drawn him in.

"Ausra…" His memory self said annoyed as he pushed himself over to sit up much like she was. "That was hardly necessary."

"I beg to differ it was completely necessary." She challenged back still giggling. "I mean, I figured since you were going to get wet anyway." She shrugged, and he saw his ghost raise an eyebrow in question.

"Why would I have gotten wet? The water is hardly that deep over here." He pointed out and Solas could only sigh at his stupidity that moment. Sometime he missed too much. Either way, Ausra had shut him up before he could ponder her answer anymore, as she leaned forward and capture his lip in his, her raised hand gliding over his smooth scalp. He saw his own surprise quell quickly and his reaction was to move closer, causing the water to ripple around them as his hands touched her neck, her hair.

He remembered at the time how surprised he had been, for she hadn't initiated affection since the first time they had kissed. Perhaps she had been too worried he would turn away from her? He remembered how silly that thought was, because any resistance he had always seemed to falter the moment he touched her, something he had realize that night on the balcony.

For loosing her had seemed an unbearable thought at the time.

He watch them part for a moment, his own heart warm even if he was simply watched, he remember every touch like it was him there, and not his ghost. "The others will come looking." He had reasoned with her, to which she had laughed at, her hand running over an ear, making him shutter.

"Dorian knows better, and Bull is not that stupid." She explained, leaning back on her other arm so she was staring up, beckoning him. Solas watched as his memory self thought about her words and quickly realized she was right. Swiftly, he moved half his body over hers, water dripping on to her face as he ducked his head and met her lips once more.

Solas groaned slightly, running a hand over his face and he took in a deep breath. Jealousy clawed at him, even though it was directed at himself. Perhaps this had been a mistake, for now he felt his mouth water and his stomach pool with heat as he watched a happier time with the women that held his heart.

Finally they separated and Solas watched as his ghost picked himself up and then helped Ausra stand. She had smiled her hands lingers on his face before he took them away with his own.

"We must go _Vhenan_". He whispered and turned, stepping from the lake. That was where Solca memory ended of the incident, but the Fade did not waver, even as he watched himself turn the corner where he knew he would cast a fire spell to dry himself off.

Instead his attention turned to Ausra who stood where he had left her in the water. She sighed, her eyes going down cast for a moment as she shook her head. "I don't understand you sometimes." She said to herself, though Solas knew whom she spoke of. "When we were in the fade, I saw everyone's fear, I saw yours. I know you don't want to be alone." She muttered, brushed water from her face, her sharp arrow like Vallasin seeming darker with her flushed face. "So why do you keep pushing me away?"

Solas stared at her, unable to really think at her words. She had never mentioned seeing that, nor did he recalling something like that. Yet she must have seen it, for he knew he hide his fear well. She was right though; he did push her away, but only because he had known their love was doomed.

_In another world_, that is what he had told her.

Even so, it dragged at his heart to see her down cast face as she tried to reason out his motives. She had trusted in him so fully, never doubting him, and then he had betrayed that.

"Oh _vhenan'ara…"_ He whispered to her memory, wishing he could reach out and touch her face. "I never meant to cause you pain." Yet he had, many times. He probably still did, leaving her as he had.

He watched her face then, as she suddenly took in a deep breath and closed her eyes. When they opened again, they shined with steal resolve he saw so often within them. "Can't get rid of me that easy." She grumbled to herself, quickly picking her way through the water and back onto land. Stunned again, Solas could only watch as she ran off after his fade self, a smile on her face.

The Fade scene faded then, and the next thing Solas knew he was awake in the real world once more. The light of the sun was nearly gone and he knew he had slept for hours.

Taking a deep breath he tried to not need for the women he had just seen again, but not been able to touch. Once again the Fade had give him insight to something he had not known about, a few extra second to show him his heart's determination.

She never had given up, not even when he had walked away from her the night he had freed her from her cruel slave markings. Not even when he had told her to harden her heart to her pain. He had promised to explain, but Solas had run before he could and now he knew not what had happened to her. Had she finally given up on him? No, he knew she hadn't, for he often had to avoid her spies who were out looking for signs of him.

She would never give up, never stop looking for him.

Solas was counting on that un-breaking will of hers to keep her strong while he was gone.

"_Emma vhenan,_" He muttered, standing up finally, to continue on his way. "Hold firm just a bit longer." For Solas would come back, he would see her again, hold her again, and kiss her again. He would make love to her and worship her mind, body and spirit, because he had to. He needed to. The tug at his heart that pulled at him, pulled him to her couldn't be cut no matter how hard he tried.

_In another world_, that is what he had told her, and that is what he intended to bring about. He would change the world, because it needed to be change, because his people needed him. Then, once it was done, he would return to her, he would follow the tether that held him to areas she had been. He would tell her the truth and except what ever came.

He owed her that much, and far more but it was a start, a future.

One where he would run to her, instead of away.

For both their sakes.


	2. Chapter 2: Her Will

A big thank you to Elysta and Lady Adaira for reviewing, you guys are awesome as are all who fallow and fav.

Note after this short:

~I realized I never posted how to say my Inquisitor's name and seeing as there are quite a few way it could be said, I'll do so now. Ausra is said 'AO-ZRaa' and means 'Dawn'.

~ while all of these shorts can be viewed as separate pieces, they do link together loosely in a time line. this one in my mind happens around the same time the last one did for Solas.

~ This chapter will mention my personal Hawk, Serenity, who story is not posted yet as I bit a bit of a mental fail after the first half of the short, but I will post it at some point.

**on a side note**, I do have the next short almost completed, but its another one done from Ausra's POV, and I am wondered about another look at Solas. Lately I have been playing with the idea of him running into my Warden (who story is up here.) as I feel they might have an interesting interaction. What do you guys think? would look like to see that? Let me know!

* * *

><p><strong>Tethered Hearts<strong>

Her Will:

She watched the small group of Hala as they walked slowly towards a small watering hole on the out skirts of camp. Far enough from people that the wild animals felt safe getting a drink. Carefully, the male of the group nudged a yearling forward as it trailed behind and Ausra smiled for a moment at the action.

The crackled of the fire in front of her drew her attention to the twisting flames as a rather sappy branch got eaten up. This would be the last night for a while that the inquisition would come to The Exalted Plans, as her group had finished up the last of the trouble in the area, ending the day with closing the last rift in the region. She liked to think that sooner or later, that task would be finished for good.

She had hoped that when the main tear had been sealed that the rest would follow, but they hadn't. Instead the more time that went by the more demons came from the opening in the fade, and any chance of them simply going away, along with the anchor in her left hand, seemed unlikely. So for now, she closed them herself, while taking care of what ever might be needed done along the way.

It kept her busy, and Ausra preferred to be busy so that she was too tired to really think too much on her own. Rubbing at her side, she winced at the bruises that were forming there from a Pride Demon's heavy arm. She'd been lucky nothing had broken, but she was defiantly sore. With Vivian back in the courts, the group's main healer was gone, and while she thought Dorian was talented, healing wasn't in his realm of forte.

That only left Solas, the only mage she'd even met that seemed to know every form of magic that dwelled in the sun. When things had first begun, over a year ago, she hadn't trusted many, and so Solas had ended up tending to her injuries. He hadn't been a healer, not really, but he had known a few things to help with pain and to stop bleeding. He only started studying in the art because of her 'reckless tactics' or that's what he had slyly told her once.

Even after all those month, he had been the only person who had truly ever known her, or ever would. It reminded her of the Hala she had just seen, Solas had always been there to gently push her forward when she lost her nerve, if only for a moment.

She had never trusted someone as much as she had him, never told anyone everything before. She had loved him so much, and he had set her free of something she hadn't even known caged her. She just hadn't known that it would be a parting gift, something that would remind her everyday of his touch and his smile and every word he had ever spoken. Ausra never seemed to forget a single word ever spoke by anyone, but is remained clearer then anyone else's ever had. He had told her, what they had was real, but he had left.

It had turned her greatest victory into a bitter sweet thing, something that had eaten at her that entire night before she had finally left the party, unable to force a smile anymore.

It was Dorian who had found her hours later after a maid had reported crashing sounds in her quarters. She'd been on the floor, curled up in a tight ball, her face tear stricken. She'd trashed her room – a room she had started sharing with Solas– and thrown a book at her gold-rimmed mirror and shattered it. When her charming friend had approached her, Ausra had simply broken down crying again, and no matter how tried she was, she refused to sleep in her bed.

It had smelled too much like him.

In the end she had ended up in Dorian's room, clutching to the mage as she slept as if he might leave her too. It had caused quiet the uproar at first, but such a thing was short lived when most knew the mages preferred gender. Ausra spent most nights there, though she often fell asleep on the couch instead of the bed. When she hadn't been in the mages room at night, she had bunked with her Hart Deer, Yarin, in his stall.

Even now, Ausra couldn't sleep in her own room; she had hardly even gone within it. Blinking, she rubbed at her eyes; pushing away the feeling of shame such memories often brought her.

"You think of the pain in your chest, and that deafens the pain made by the demon." Cole's sudden appearance next to her hardly surprised her as the spirit turned human often traveled with her these days. Ausra smiled slightly at the boy's rather droopy expression, one that matched his hat well.

"You never miss anything." She muttered, rubbing at her side again.

"I hear all suffering." The boy reminded her. "I'm suppose to help them, but your pain always comes back. What should I do?"

The elven women didn't know how to answer him, because she had certainly tried to kill the pain herself more then once. Drinking hadn't helped; it only gave her a stabbing headache and a laughing Iron Bul in the morning. Keeping busy did help but one couldn't be busy forever. So it left her in a bit of a rut, pledging her waking hours. If she didn't even know how to help herself, how could she tell someone else what to do?

"Don't worry too much about it kid." The heavy foot falls of the only Dwarf Ausra had ever met without a beard appeared beside the Mercy Spirit, his ever present cross bow on his back like always. He met her eyes for a moment with a smile before sauntering over and sitting down on the other side of Cole. It occurred to Ausra a bit humorously that they were 'three rouges all in a line' and some how that helped to lighten her spirits. "Your still here, and you care, that's all she could ever want from you, right Swifty?"

At that, her humor grew and she smiled and shook her head. Between Varric's nickname 'Swifty' and Dorian's 'Sneaks' She often wondered if they didn't like saying her name, though she knew it was just an endearment. At least they didn't call her 'Inquisitor' or 'Herald', like half of Sky Hold did.

"Varric's right Cole, knowing you care and that your still here, that's more then enough for me." She repeated to the boy. The blond still frowned shaking his head right back at her, making her wondered just what he saw when he looked at her. Once, he had said she was like a bright light, had she dimmed, she wondered.

"That's not good enough. You do so much for me, isn't there anything I can do?"

Glancing at Varric, he only shrugged is shoulders and Ausra bit the inside of her cheek. Some how the two of them had become almost parents, mentors, to the Spirit-Human, and while neither of them had really expected to take on such roles, neither tried to get away from it either. Soles had always found it a bit agitating, but then again he hadn't approved of letting the boy be more human either.

"Alright…" She soothed, her gaze finding the Hala again as she tried to come up with something to say. The little herd of white deer were still drinking water, though the lead male had taken to staring at their camp. She stared right back, trying to come up with something, anything that would be easy for him and put him at ease.

None of her problems were ever easy though, even if Ausra made it appear as though they were. Strong willed – Cullen had called her – but if she had been so strong, why hadn't she been able to stop the man she loved? Why hadn't she confronted him about what she had just started to realize he worried about? Biting her lip she asked the only thing she could think about in that moment, choosing to be selfish.

"Do you think he ever loved me?" She whispered.

She knew it wasn't fair to ask such a question to the boy, for even those who were born in this world had trouble figuring out what love was. For someone of the fade…she wasn't sure he could even truly fathom such an emotion, as he still lacked quiet a few himself. When she glanced at Varric she could see the sadness in his warm eyes. It wasn't pity. The fellow rouge had seen enough heart aches to know never to pity those who had rightfully earned a chance to lick their wounds. From what he had told her of Serenity Hawk and her life, she could see why he was always asked how she was.

"He always watched you." Cole said suddenly, earning the inquisitor's attention. "When you would meet his eyes, or laugh, there was a warmth in his chest that made him forget, if only for a little while. "

"Forget what?" Ausra muttered, eyebrows pulling together. Cole fidgeted again, picking at the sleeve of his shirt.

"Guilt, pain, anger. There was a scar too deep, too brutally forged. You made him forget about that, made him remember what it felt like to be happy." His words, though sad made her smile, even as tears welled up in her eyes and she pushed them away with the heel of her hand. Though Cole hadn't said it, what he had said gave her enough to know the elf had cared about her, perhaps even loved her.

"I still think you'll see him again." Varric chipped in, leaning back on his hands as he looked at the fire. For a moment, he looked like a great shaman, preparing to tell a story of old, and Ausra couldn't help but think Varric would have outshined them all with his tales. "Chuckles surprised us all when he disappeared, but I think there's more to it then just that. There was a lot we didn't know about him."

That was true. She hated to admit to it but she had never been able to get him to talk about who he had been before, at least not very well. She had never pushed at it because what mattered was who they were now, much like Blackwall. Yet, Solas has berated the warrior for lying, for hiding who he was.

What did that make Solas then?

Even if towards the end, and even more so now, things had begun to fall into place. Things she'd started connecting together even though he tried to hide them. His knowledge, his powers, what the fear demon had said in the Fade… they were clues that she had just started to grasp at when he had left.

Still, even if her guesses were right some how… it didn't change a thing for her. It wasn't that easily to stop loving someone. Though, if that is why he had left, it made her sad to think he thought her so easily swayed. It made her angry too, that he would run away, she had thought him braver, smarter then that.

"When he does come back, what do you think you'll do?" Varric prompted, a sly smile on his face. Ausra raised an eyebrow and Cole looked a bit worried by the dwarf's statement. Her uneasily, unanswered questions aside, she had been thinking about just that as well, for a while now. She hummed, a smile curling at her mouth.

"I'll probably punch him straight in the face." She mused, earning a chuckle from her friend. "Then I'll demand answers… well after I make up for punching him." She wasn't sure she would have had the nerve, if he were to show up in that moment, but it was nice to think about.

Her words even prompted a small weary smile upon the assassin's face while Varric laughed outright and she grinned, her face redder then the flames in front of them.

"Would you guys be quiet!" Cassandra's voice bellowed from within one of the tents. "Some of us are trying to sleep, and dwarven cackling isn't very soothing.

Varric rolled his eyes, but did his best to quiet his joy. "She such a stiff." He grumbled out.

"She's not that bad." Ausra defended, leaning on her legs for a moment. "It is late."

"Are you tired?" Varric questioned with a raised brow. She shook her head. Despite everything they had done today, she doubt she would sleep with everything on her mind. "Good. Care for some Wicked Grace, Swifty?"

Ausra snorted but nodded her head, even as Cole looked between them, his smile falling away. "Your both just going to cheat again." He muttered earning a small bout of laughter again, quieter this time.

As she watched a deck appeared from out of no where, Ausra looked up at the sky, the same sky she knew Solas must have been seeing as well. Though, this late at night he was probably exploring the fade again.

Would he really come back?

She had to wonder, while she loved Varric, she knew he was a very good liar; hence their constant Wicked Grace battles. While she liked to think he wouldn't lie about such a thing intentionally, what Solas had done, made her wondered if any of them had ever truly known him.

With her slowly filling in puzzle of information she was gathering, that possibility seemed quiet rational. Slowly, as she wondered, she let her eyes trace the stars as they unfocused and let the world just be, if only for a moment.

Solas…where was he now? Had he truly left her without even thought to what it would do to her? That didn't seem like him, not when he had said so much, promised so much.

Her thoughts and the stars above sparked a memory from not long ago. Of one she still held rather close to her heart, even if it did hurt. The night they had danced out on the balcony after saving the queen. Ausra had been half tempted to tell him to just keep her company, but she had told herself to find something to enjoy about that night, and so she had.

_"So did you learn how to dance in the fade?" She had teased him; even as he easily lead her around the balcony with grace that matched hers. Solas had raised a brow, the metal on the side of his nose – which she thought looked ridicules, along with the hat – glinting as he did so. _

_"Would that be so odd?"_

_"…Your kidding right?" She'd laughed slightly at his expression, shaking her short crimson hair. "Is the Fade that interesting? I mean, yeah it's a way to learn, between you and my mother I probably known more about it then any non mage ever will." She pointed out, her eyes flickering to the stars above them for a moment. "It's just that most people live there entire life never seeing it, up until this year I never had." No, now she walked into the Fade with her real body and risked being trapped there forever while the anchor laid glued to her hand. "Are we really missing that much?"_

_He had chuckled at that, spinning her out and then pulling her back in with out even a pause. "That is like saying the blind do not miss anything because they cannot see the stars." He mused, looking up as she had. "Just because we cannot touch them, does not mean they do not have a story Ausra." He stopped them for a moment, his hand leaving her waist and brush long bangs from her face that had fallen from their clip. "If I could, I would take you with me on my ventures, so that you could see for yourself."_

_"Haven't you already?" She questioned, referring to the dream of Haven and the first time they had kissed. The elder elf shook his head. _

_"That was merely a memory I made myself in a dream for you. The real memories of the fade are not something I can control, it would be like trying to stop water from falling to the ground."_

_"You could freeze it with ice." Ausra teased quirking a smile. In return, the mage had simple given her an easy smile and quiet suddenly moved his hand again, easily shifting her in the a drip as if they had never stopped dancing. _

_"I'm not all powerful, __Vhenan.__" He murmured, before ducking his head to hers and kissing her forehead. "But for you, I would surely try."_

"Ausra?"

Blinking, the elf pulled her thoughts back forward, glancing to her side to see two pairs of concerned eyes. Feeling guilty for worrying them, she gave them a small smile and reached out, taking the hand of cards Varric held waiting.

"Sorry, just thinking." She told them, and they both nodded, though Coles small smile had faded again. She tilted her head and scooted closer to the boy, patting his shoulder and splaying her cards in her anchored hand. "Come on, we can beat him together." She offered.

Cole had looked at her sharply then, his cool eyes meeting hers. She didn't waver though, for some reason her brief memory giving her strength again, making her surer of her self.

She realized it didn't really matter what anyone else thought, it was up to her to really figure out what had happened with Solas. She had believed him when he had said he would have taken her to the Fade, and surely where ever he had gone must have been just as dangerous.

So if he hadn't taken her, did that mean he hadn't had a choice at all?

Ausra didn't know, and she wasn't sure if she would truly ever know until she heard the truth for the elf's own lips. She was content to wait though, because she realized that he had to come back if the pull he felt to her was even half as strong as hers was to him. It was pull she couldn't explain, maybe it was why 'the pain kept coming back' a Cole said. Maybe it was the fact that ever free moment she had her thoughts turned to him. What ever it was, Ausra would just have to wait and see. She had too many duties as Inquisitor to go off looking for him.

Besides she kind of liked the idea of him coming back to her.

Slowly, Cole nodded his head, apparently satisfied with what he had seen and turned his eyes wondering over the cards he still tried to understand. They had been teaching him, but such things were better taught through experience.

"Two against one? That's almost unfair…to you." Varric boasted, and Ausra knew he had already given himself a winning hand. Two could play at that game though, and Ausra had gotten rather good at his version of the game.

As they played, she saw the small group of Hala disappear from view, the male never turning his gaze until the last of them had left the water source. Only then did he turn and walk about to follow his family out. It really was like Solas – Ausra mused – and she wondered if he was watching them now. If he was, he would surely get a show, after all with three rouges in a game of wits, it would certainly be interesting.


	3. Chapter 3: His Fear

Wasn't going to put this one on here, but it ended up being a pretty good for shadow to my main one, which is the next chapter-short. plus, I just cant help but have overly dramatic, heart killing chapters...lol.

Enjoy!

* * *

><p><span>His Fear:<span>

_Dip… drip… drip…_

He awoke in a daze of confusion, righting himself from a cold stone ground that smelled sharply of mold and rot. It was dark, shackles scattered across the ground and hovering from above from unseen points.

Solas wasn't chained though and so he rose to his feet, grimacing as he stepped into something wet and cold that seemed to stick to his skin even as he tried to whip it of by dragging it over the ground. Just where was he? From what he could see he assumed he was in some kind of cell, but how he had gotten there was unknown.

Taking up his staff from the ground his hand brushed over the wolf head before he tapped it firmly on the stone, casting a glowing night that floated like a weightless sun. It was then and only then that he lid eyes upon a sharp agonizing pain that stole the very air from his lungs.

She was torn asunder, bleeding bright in the color of her own hair. A simple chain held her up by raised wrist around the wooden pull, and it looked as if at any moment her shoulders would fail as she hung there limply, her legs folded on the ground like a bagger. Her head was dropped as well, long bangs undone from their braid, dripping crimson into a pool below.

It was that sound, he realized, that had woken him.

Solas didn't remember how he got to her, he was just there, across the under kept dungeon floor in moments. His hands found her face as he quickly took the strain off her shoulders, propping her up against him. The need to gag reached him the moment his very clothes suddenly became wet at her touch. He ignored it though, his hands pulling her head up as he cup her chin and brushed hair back.

"Ausra?" He whispered to the silence, his mind refusing to understand how he could touch her. He had thought this was the fade, a dream, or maybe a memory. The later seemed even worse then what he knew now. It was real. It had to be if he could touch her. Her eyes were closed to him though, her skin looked far to pale, the scars upon it more vivid because of it. "_Emma Vhenan_…please." He pleaded to her and when she didn't responded in anyway to his touch or his voice he felt colder then the ice he wielded.

Was she already gone then?

His heart shuttered and he moved his hand to her neck to check for a pulse, a sign of life. Anything at all. His hands were shaking and he could have laughed at that, him, the dread wolf, shaking like a leaf in a stiff wind. Closing his eyes he let his headrest against her clammy forehead as he pressed his figures against her neck harder.

_Bump-bump._

Weak and slow, but there. Solas pressed his thin lips together before drawing back for a moment. He needed to get her free and look her over. She needed to be healed before he even tried to understand how any of this had happened.

"Solas-s…" Her voice dragged from her mouth and he flinched at the sound as his eyes met barely open ones, the brilliant amber of them weak like spent tealeaves. Blood dripped down from her now open lips and he moved his other hand to wipe at it as if it would help her.

"I'm here." He whispered, unable to think of anything else to say. Her lips twitched as if to form her cocky smile, but it never did. She grew in a small breath and then sighed it back out.

"You came back…I knew you would." She muttered dryly, as if in a haze. "They said I would die in here alone…"

Alone.

It seemed too ironic, that what ever had happened she had been told she would suffer his worst fear.

Shaking his head he, froze the chains that held her and broke them. Gently he kneeled down and set her up against the wall and summoned magic in to his hand at her neck and moved it down to search for a wound.

"The Dawn can never die, Ausra, I wont let it.[1]" He assured her, even as his magic casting hand became coated in blood. This couldn't be possible, what had happened to her? The room was to dark, to dim and he couldn't tell with her dark garbs where the wounds started and ended.

Anger began to claw at him, anger for what had happened to her. Who would dare to hurt _his_ women like this? They would pay dearly. A low growl boiled in his chest and he felt Ausra let out another low breath, slower this time.

"Don't leave me," she whispered, "please, Solas, stay…" She seemed frantic suddenly and the elven god mirror it as he used his free hand to get her to look at him again and only barely bit back a scream.

Her eyes had gone dark.

They were open, but the life in them had faded, blood loss taking her sight from her, or maybe making it fade in and out. How was that possible? Her eyes, the very color of a new dawn – burning so bright Cole had said it was hard to look past them into her soul – had dimmed, someone snuffing it out. She was fading, and right in front of him.

No this couldn't be happening. He wouldn't let it.

"_Vhenan'ara_, I'm right here." He whispered his magic surging forth even stronger now as his emotions climbed. His other hand moved to clutch at a cold hand, bringing it up to his face and pressing it to his cheek. He had to save her. She couldn't die here. "I won't leave you, I promise."

A weak cough answered him and he flinched as blood splattered over his face and tricking down her chin. Pressure gathered in his cobalt eyes and he closed them for a moment, not sure who he could pray to for help but doing so any way.

_Do not take her from me too_.

"…Liar."

His eyes snapped back open at her breath of a sound and he ran a hand over her scalp, pushing back brittle hair. "Ausra?" He whispered, staring at her eyes but found nothing in return. There was nothing, the embers of light had cooled to black. Trembling fingers moved to her parted lips and he waited.

_One second, two seconds_.

His healing magic still poured from him, magic he had learned to heal her because of her reckless habits. He'd always healed her, he would do it again. He had to. Ever since the first time she been injured, clawing at her marking hand he'd told her he would fix it.

_Three seconds, four seconds. _

She'd always teased him for worrying about her so much, but her smile and her laughter, the way she had kissed him and flushed nearly the color of her hair. He knew she liked being fussed over.

_Five seconds. _

Nothing brushed his skin, not even the smallest of breath. His hand flew to her neck again and pressed there, waiting, waiting…

_Nothing_.

Something stabbed him cold throw the chests and he shook his head, both hands leaving their poisons to hold her pretty face. "Ausra please…" He sounded like a dog begging for a scrap of food, but he didn't care, he would get down on his knees and grovel if she would only reply. "My heart, stay here…"

But nothing came, and nothing ever would again.

_"Liar."_

The word hung there, her last word, a word that would haunt him till he knew no more. She had thought he would leave her. Why shouldn't she? When he had once already, and without even a good-bye or a reason, just gone. He couldn't blame her for her distrust, but for her to think he would leave her when she had been so hurt… yet had he not left her hurt before? Not physically, but in ever other way? He had thought of it many times, how much he must have hurt her.

And she had died believe he would do so again.

"No… No!"

The snarling scream that ripped through his chest scarred his throat as he howled and suddenly Solas smashed into something cold and damp. The elf gasped, limbs flaying for the body he had just been holding before his eyes snapped back open. Heaving a breath, his eyes were met with the inside of the cave he was now laying in, a pile of snow having found its way inside as the storm ragged on.

Reality felt like a punch to the gut as he sat there, disoriented, stuck somewhere between relief and horror.

It had been a dream after all. He could not remember a time he didn't know he was in the Fade, but some how it had happened this time. It had been so real, so soul shattering. Solas had to look down to make sure he wasn't covered in blood. Nothing but melted snow soaked his robes though and he raised a hand to cover his eyes and let out a shuttering breath. She was alive. He knew she was. He'd seen her not long ago through Cole's eyes, just for a moment.

Yet the dream had cause something in his mind of change and it was in those moments, laying in the melting snow, his eyes staring at nothing but closed lids, that he knew.

Dying alone was no longer his one and only truest fear.

* * *

><p>[1] Her name Ausra, means 'first light' or 'dawn', meaning he wont let her die.<p> 


End file.
